More fare payment options are coming to ORCA in 2026, both motivated by the FIFA World Cup coming to Seattle next summer. Public pilot programs testing Open Payments and a 3-day PugetPass are planned for 2026, allowing more flexibility in how transit riders pay their fares. The last major updates to ORCA came in 2024 when Sound Transit and ORCA announced the ability to add ORCA cards to Google Wallet app on Android phones. Open Payments will allow users of iPhones and other non-Android phones to pay with their phone, too, but not with a digital ORCA card. Unfortunately, there is no update on when iPhone users might be able to put their ORCA cards in their Apple Wallet.

Continue reading “New ORCA features next year: Open Payments and 3-Day PugetPass” | 33 comments

A few weeks ago, Jeremy Cole shared an idea about the Fremont Bridge in a Bluesky post.

Hot take: Fremont Bridge should be closed to cars and open only for bikes and pedestrians. For cars it's mostly redundant with Aurora Bridge and we're never going to build a new bridge (with the required ability to open, especially) for non-cars. As a historic bridge it'll last a lot longer, too.

— Jeremy Cole (@jeremycole.bsky.social) 2025-11-25T01:41:40.723Z

Is Jeremy’s idea for a car-free Fremont Bridge feasible? Let’s take a look at the data to see why it makes sense to redesign the Fremont Bridge for people walking, biking, and taking transit.

Continue reading “The Fremont Bridge Should be Car-free” | 117 comments

How many trains per hour can fit into one downtown tunnel, both currently and with tunnel upgrades?

Sound Transit’s current ceiling is 20 trains per hour, or one every 3 minutes. With capital upgrades this could be increased to 30-45 trains per hour, or one every 2 to 1.5 minutes, as many other metro tunnels around the world operate. 30 trains/hour is common in many subways like New York, London, Moscow, and St Petersburg. The Paris Metro gets up to 40 trains/hour. Automated Skytrain can reach 45 trains/hour.

The 1 Line currently runs every 8 minutes peak, or 8 trains/hour. The 2 Line will have the same, or combined 4-minute frequency and 16 trains/hour. Sound Transit is currently upgrading the signals in the tunnel to ensure it can deliver that reliably; that will require two weekend closures in January. That leaves a theoretical 4 slots unused to fit within the 20/hour limit, equivalent to a line every 15 minutes.

With three lines in the tunnel all at 8-minute frequency, that’s 24 trains per hour, or a train every 2.5 minutes. That’s 4 trains over the 20/hour limit.

If those three lines are each increased to 6-minute frequency, that’s 10 trains per hour each, or a total of 30 trains/hour. That would combine for one train every 2 minutes. That’s at the low end of the upgrade range, so the easiest to do. It’s also what the tunnel alternatives study seems to be targeting to meet ridership demand in the 2030s and 2040s with more Link lines to more areas.

It’s not that Link can’t go over the 3-minute limit now. It currently runs trains every 1.5 minutes after ballgames, with extra trains in the Stadium-Roosevelt segment, some reversing on both tracks, and southbound trains from Lynnwood coming in between whenever they can. But this level of service throws reliability out the window, so trains come whenever they can. And it wouldn’t be allowed for every day service due to the limited number of egress paths in the downtown tunnel stations currently (elevators/ escalators/stairs).

There are two sets of future tunnel upgrades. One is needed anyway regardless of whether the second tunnel is built, to bring reliability up peer cities’ norm. The other is to increase tunnel capacity if we put three lines in the tunnel or make Ballard a Ballard-Westlake stub line instead of building the second tunnel. Both of these lists of projects are still being identified, but we know both of them involve signal work, and the second involves adding egress paths to Westlake station and maybe others. Other kinds of upgrades are probably needed too, but ST is still identifying them so we don’t know what they are yet.

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This is an open thread for miscellaneous transit and land-use topics. There will be no Sunday Movie this week. Instead Sunday will have another Link article, and next week will have five non-Link articles.

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Transit ridership in the Seattle area typically reaches its seasonal low in early months of the year as tourists avoid the Big Dark and locals hunker down after the holidays. Sound Transit often uses this time to complete disruptive maintenance and upgrade projects. At a Sound Transit Board committee meeting earlier this month, agency staff presented plans for construction, upgrades, and maintenance requiring disruptions to Link 1 Line service in January and February next year.

• January 2-5 (Weekend): No service between Stadium and Capitol Hill stations.
• January 13-15 (Weeknights): Service ends early between Tukwila/Intl. Blvd and Mount Baker stations.
• January 30-February 2 (Weekend): No service between Stadium and Capitol Hill stations.
• February 10-12 (Weeknights): Service ends early between Mount Baker and Stadium stations.
• Ongoing (Weeknights): Reduced 1 Line service after 7pm.

Read on for details.

Continue reading “Light rail work Jan-Feb 2026” | 9 comments

The Sound Transit board met today to discuss alternatives to building the second downtown Link tunnel (DSTT2), as part of its monthly board meeting. Video of the meeting will be available in 24-48 hours on ST’s YouTube channel. (Here’s the meeting agenda and webpage.)

Sound Transit did an ad hoc study of two alternatives to the second tunnel and presented the results last week in a committee meeting:

• Interline alternative: Merge the Ballard extension into the existing downtown tunnel (DSTT1) at Symphony station, bypassing Westlake station. This preserves ST3’s Ballard – Tacoma Dome line (the future 1 Line).
• Stub-End alternative: Build Ballard – Westlake as a standalone line. Everybody would transfer at Westlake to the rest of the Link system.

Today’s full-board meeting concluded with no decision for or against the alternatives, but further substantial work on them would require the board to allocate resources and contracts to it.

The Seattle Transit Blog favors the Stub-End alternative over Interline or DSTT2. We also want ST to study making it automated, an automated Ballard – Westlake line. And we’d like it to be forward-compatible with a potential future extension to First Hill, Judkins Park, and Mt Baker station in a future vote.

Boardmembers’ discussion on the alternatives is below the fold.

Continue reading “ST Downtown Tunnel Board Meeting” | 168 comments

Yesterday, Mayor-elect Katie Wilson announced Angela Brady will be the next Interim Director of the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT). Since 2022, Brady has served as Director of Seattle’s Office of the Waterfront, Civic Projects & Sound Transit. In the statement announcing the change, Wilson touted Brady’s “strong operational expertise” and said Brady “is committed to addressing our maintenance backlog, and shares my vision of world-class transit, a citywide network of protected bike lanes, safe and accessible sidewalks, great pedestrian spaces, and housing-rich neighborhoods packed with amenities.”

Prior to her current role, Brady was the Deputy Director of Design and Delivery for the Waterfront Program. While not perfect (largely due to minimum lane requirements from WSDOT), the revamped waterfront is a significant improvement over the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Before working on the waterfront, Brady oversaw Seattle’s Mercer Corridor Project as a Supervising Program Manager at SDOT. The Mercer Corridor Project revamped Mercer St in South Lake Union and Lower Queen Anne to contain several lanes of eastbound and westbound vehicles. Other than a two-way protected bike lane under SR-99, the project had few transit, bike, or pedestrian focused improvements.

While the projects on Brady’s resume may not align with Wilson’s vision for a truly multi-modal city, her experience working with and for SDOT will ensure a smooth transition for the agency. During the next few months, Wilson’s team will continue the search for a permanent SDOT Director who will be more aligned with Wilson’s transportation priorities.

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Reminder: Link service in Downtown will close early on Friday.
Discussion about the Ballard Link Extension continues on yesterday’s article.

Update: All Metro buses will stop for a moment Thursday at 2:54am and 2:54pm in memorial for slain bus driver Shawn Yim. Details in a comment below.

• Op-Ed: It’s Time to Imagine a Safer, More Connected Rainier Avenue (The Urbanist)
• Op-Ed: Seattle Monorail Should Honor Transfers, Be Treated Like Real Transit (The Urbanist)
• Parking Enforcement Officers On Work Slowdown After Contract Negotiations Stall (PubliCola)
• Transit Riders Union Charts New Course After Katie Wilson’s Election (Hacks and Wonks)

Continue reading “Midweek Roundup: Unfinished Metropolis” | 132 comments

This Thursday the full Sound Transit Board is likely to permanently determine whether the agency’s recent analysis of downtown tunnel alternatives warrants further consideration. It’s no exaggeration to say the future of the Link light rail system is at stake. The latest estimates show the agency faces a $34.5 billion shortfall over the next 20 years. Once again, Sound Transit must choose what to do now, and what to defer to the future.

Many transit advocates are calling for Sound Transit to simply Build The Damn Trains, apparently expecting the agency to magically find a progressive pot of gold to fill the hole. Sound Transit will build what it can. What it should do is Build the Best Parts First.

Continue reading “Build the Best Parts First” | 165 comments

Earlier this year, Sound Transit revealed updated cost estimates for its major ST3 projects totalling $14 to $20 billion (in 2025 dollars) more than its current long-range financial plan can afford. Over half of that excess cost is due to a massive jump in costs to build the planned Ballard Link Extension, which was expected to cost about $11.9 billion but is now estimated at $20.1 to $22.6 billion. Much of the cost of the project is related to construction of a second tunnel through Downtown Seattle. While advocates have long called for the agency to study alternative routes for the Ballard Link Extension, Claudia Balducci was the first Sound Transit Board member to openly call for study of how the Ballard Link Extension could be built without a second tunnel through downtown. Last week, agency staff presented the results their investigation into the feasibility of two ways to build the Ballard Link extension without a second downtown tunnel: interlining with the current tunnel, or stub-ending underneath Westlake

Two Alternative Approaches to the Ballard Link Extension

The current ST3 plan involves building a new dedicated rail tunnel from Seattle Center via SLU to Chinatown. This new Ballard Line would continue south towards SeaTac and eventually Tacoma.

Continue reading “No New Tunnel Downtown? Sound Transit Explores Ballard Link Alternatives” | 195 comments

History of San Francisco’s Muni Metro. (Classy Whale)

This is an open thread.

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Following the recent opening of the Federal Way Link Extension, confusion quickly set in over which 1 Line trains travel to Seattle. Once the 2 Line is connected across Lake Washington, all three Link termini will imply they are the center of the region: Lynnwood City Center, Downtown Redmond, and Federal Way Downtown. Of course, none of these locations are in Seattle, the dominant city in Puget Sound. Stephen Fesler discussed this situation in an excellent Op-Ed last week.

While the platform signs are confusing and should be updated, they are technically correct. Over the past few months, there appears to have been an uptick in incorrect signs by both Sound Transit and King County Metro. These errors may be seen as benign (and even humorous) to frequent transit riders, but they can cause confusion and frustration for infrequent or first time passengers. Transit agencies should make riding transit as clear and simple as possible.

Sound Transit

In November, Nick Sattele, co-lead of the Fix The L8 campaign, found an issue with a Reduced Service announcement. On the 1 Line diagram, Stadium station was labeled as the stop north of U District (instead of Roosevelt station). In reality, Stadium station is located south of downtown Seattle and should not have been included on the diagram.

ATTENTION: Next Saturday, November 8, STADIUM STATION will be RELOCATED to the Northgate neighborhood.Thank you for your understanding.

— Nick (@nicksattele.bsky.social) 2025-11-01T20:56:41.846Z

As many first-time Link riders start their journey at SeaTac/Airport station, it is paramount that the station has clear signs to help them navigate. Unfortunately, Sound Transit appears to have doubled down on confusing passengers at this station. A few weeks ago, AvgZing shared on Bluesky that the signs for the Federal Way Downtown platform at SeaTac/Airport station included the airplane logo. Did you know Federal Way had an airport?

Continue reading “Friday Roundtable: Incorrect Signs” | 70 comments

In its last meeting in 2025, the Sound Transit Board’s Executive Committee will officially direct agency staff to “conduct a fare gate retrofit implementation study” and “if study findings support further action, develop a fare gate retrofit pilot proposal”. In September, The Urbanist reported fare gates were one of many options under consideration as part of the agency’s Enterprise initiative. In October, King 5 reported Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine had already directed staff to begin assembling a proposal for a fare gate pilot program. The Sound Transit Board’s Motion No. M2025-64 formalizes the work, and sets a due date for the study and associated pilot program proposal of “no later than Q2 2026”.

Continue reading “Sound Transit considers fare gate pilot” | 140 comments

Reminder: Link service through Downtown will be disrupted a few more times before the end of the year, with extended overnight closures planned for the nights of Dec. 12-13, 20-21, and 27-28.

Local News & Commentary:

• Tips for traveling with King County Metro this winter season (Metro Matters)
• Monorail to Nix Transfer Credits, Raising Costs on Some ORCA Card Users (The Urbanist)
• Sound Transit Brokers Streetcar Swap Between Portland and Tacoma (The Urbanist)
• Precinct-level voting results show Wilson was most popular in dense neighborhoods (The Urbanist)
• Link is slowly becoming more reliable, but still has a lot of room for improvement (The Seattle Times, $)
• A 14-Point Plan for Mayor Wilson, including proposals for reopening the Comp. Plan, something called “The Urban Pass”, and more transit passes from event centers (PubliCola)
• Op-Ed: Sound Transit’s Station Naming Policy Has Run Amok Again (The Urbanist)
• The state legislature legalized pedestrian streets this year, but actually establishing them may require environmental review (The Urbanist)

Continue reading “Midweek Roundup: Streetcar Swap” | 58 comments

The recent election of the former head the Seattle Transit Riders Union Katie Wilson to be Seattle’s mayor occurred less than a month after Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck announced her ‘Better Bus Lanes’ Campaign. In the spirit of that campaign I offer suggestions for improvements that can be accomplished in the near future:

Continue reading “Better Buses in Seattle” | 137 comments

We’ll all be at the Federal Way Link opening today. Try out the new stations. Tell us your experiences below.

There will be no Sunday Movie this week. We’re planning a retrospective article after the event, but its timing will depend on what happens today and whether we can assemble the content by tonight for tomorrow. If you have any video from the event you’d like to share, you can email a link to contact at the website.

This is an open thread.

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On December 6, Sound Transit will open the Federal Way Link Extension (FWLE). This extension will add three new stations along eight miles of new track south of Angle Lake station. The stations are Kent Des Moines, Star Lake, and Federal Way Downtown. Each station will feature connections to local bus service, pickup and drop-off areas, and lots of parking. Wesley Lin discussed the walkability of each station in a previous article.

Kent Des Moines Station

The northernmost new station, Kent Des Moines, is located southeast of Pacific Hwy S & S Kent Des Moines Rd. The area around the station includes Highline College, car-oriented big box stores, a self-storage facility, and I-5. Excluding Highline College, these are far from ideal land uses around a Link station. Sound Transit and the City of Kent plan to develop two plots immediately west of the station, previously used for construction staging.

Continue reading “Federal Way Link Extension: New Stations” | 12 comments

On Tuesday, Sound Transit invited members of the media to preview the Federal Way Link Extension (FWLE) that opens on Saturday. This extension will add three new stations to the 1 Line south of Angle Lake: Kent Des Moines, Star Lake, and Federal Way Downtown. Terri Mestas, deputy CEO for megaproject delivery at Sound Transit, welcomed the group and highlighted the recently completed bridge near the McSorely Wetland in Kent. This bridge is a recent addition to the FWLE; it was conceived after a 2022 landslide revealed more unstable soil conditions than expected. At 1,100ft, this is the longest bridge used by Link (so far). After the introductory remarks, we entered Kent Des Moines station and began our journey to Federal Way.

Spoiler Alert: This article has descriptions, pictures, and videos of inside the new stations and from the train. If you prefer to wait and see the new stations in-person, do not continue reading.

Continue reading “Federal Way Link Extension: Sneak Peek” | 59 comments

Update at 7:15am: Othello station is open and trains are back to normal service.

Othello station on the 1 Line closed around 2:30pm Tuesday and will remain closed through Wednesday’s morning commute at least, due to an ongoing police investigation. Shuttle buses are running between Rainier Beach and Columbia City stations. Link is running north and south of there. Travel times through the area may be long due to heavy traffic and street closures. The Link maintenance planned Tuesday night in North Seattle was postponed.

This started around 1:30pm Tuesday when police shot and killed a man who was allegedly waving a gun near MLK & South Othello Street. The Seattle Times posted a short followup at 9:30pm.

Sound Transit has a chart of alternative bus routes between 1 Line station pairs if want to avoid a 3-seat ride through the area and potential delays.

Regular roundup news links are below the fold.

Continue reading “Midweek Roundup: Othello Station Closed” | 111 comments

In just a few days, the first Link train with passengers will travel to Kent and Federal Way. Since the first official discussions of building light rail to Federal Way over 15 years ago, the Seattle Transit Blog has followed its progress. Take a trip down memory lane as we look back at the discussions, designs, and construction that have led to the celebration this Saturday.

After the ballot measure failed, Sound Transit went back to the drawing board for ST2. In April 2008, the Federal Way City Council voted to support light rail through Federal Way to Tacoma. However, Sound Transit had a different plan. In July, Erica C. Barnett (then at The Stranger), shared a breakdown of the revised ST2 plan. This plan included:

Continue reading “Federal Way Link Extension: How We Got Here” | 49 comments